Keeper of the Sacrificial lamb
by Miss Kioshi
Summary: 'You have kept him alive so that he can die at the proper moment' Albus Dumbledore was ready to sacrifice Harry for the greater good. Severus Snape was not. He will do everything in his power to protect Lily's legacy. - No bad Dumbledore, No sweet Voldemort
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: The characters and settings, including any sentences taken directly or partly from the books or movies, of Harry Potter are the property of J. K. Rowling, Scholastic Books, Bloomsbury Publishing, AOL Time Link and Warner Brothers. I do not make money from publishing my story.

They were back in Dumbledore's office, the windows dark, and Fawkes sat silent as Snape sat quite still, as Dumbledore walked around him, talking.  
'Harry must not know, not until the last moment, not until it is necessary, otherwise how could he have the strength to do what must be done?'  
'But what must he do?'  
'That is between Harry and me. Now, listen closely, Severus. There will come a time- after my death – do not argue, do not interrupt! There will come a time when Lord Voldemort will seem to fear for the life of his snake.'  
'For Nagini?' Snape looked astonished.  
'Precisely. If there comes a time when Lord Voldemort stops sending that snake forth to do his bidding, but keeps it safe beside him, under magical protection, then, I think, it will be safe to tell Harry.'  
'Tell him what?'  
Dumbledore took a deep breath and closed his eyes.  
'Tell him that on the night Lord Voldemort tried to kill him, when Lily cast her own life between them as a shield, the Killing Curse rebounded upon Lord Voldemort, and a fragment of Voldemort's souls was blasted apart from the whole, and latched itself on to the only living soul left in that collapsing building.  
Part of Lord Voldemort lives inside Harry, and it is that which gives him the power of speech with snakes, and a connection with Lord Voldemort's mind that he has never understood. And while that fragment of soul, unmissed by Voldemort, remains attached to, and protected by Harry, Lord Voldemort cannot die.'  
'So the boy… the boy must die?' asked Snape quite calmly, while in his heart he could not remain untouched by the thought that the last part of Lily was to be sacrificed.  
'And Voldemort himself must do it, Severus. That is essential.'  
Another long silence. Then Snape said, 'I thought …. All these years …. That we were protecting him for her. For Lily.'  
'We have protected him because it has been essential to teach him, to raise him, to let him try his strength,' said Dumbledore, eyes still tight shut. 'Meanwhile, the connection between them grows ever stronger, a parasitic growth: sometimes I have thought he suspects it himself. If I know him, he will have arranged matters so that when he does set out to meet his death, it will, truly, mean the end of Lord Voldemort.'  
Dunbledore opened his eyes. Snape had no longer been able to keep his horrification from being revealed on his face.  
'You have kept him alive so that he can die at the proper moment?'

Instead of his usual calm and collected persona, Severus Snape arrived in his quarters fuming with rage and disbelief. He should have expected it. A chess master through and through, the Headmaster would have had this all planned out, because as in chess, in life sacrifices had to be made.  
At least that was how the old man justified having a mere boy sacrifice himself in order to stop a man, albeit a maniac dark lord.

It wasn't just any boy however, no, it was Lily's boy, whom Dumbledore planned to sacrifice for the greater good. It was the last living piece of Lily Evans, the woman whom he had loved unconditionally, the girl with whom he had played during the holidays and with whom he had studied during term. The woman whom had ultimately married another, but whom he had never stopped loving.

For her, he had ran from one master to the other, begging Voldemort to spare her and pleading with Dumbledore to hide them. It was for her son now, that he would, once again, switch sides. He had no one to live for anymore. His sense of justice completely forgotten, as the only goal he could now set himself, was the survival of Lily Evans' legacy.

They were nasty bits of magic, those horcruxes. It was nearly impossible to find any information on them, let alone how to dismantle one, without harming the object, in this case a living being, in which it was placed.

Snape had no intention of letting the boy die, but neither did he intend to forgive Voldemort for killing his one true love, but it was beginning to look impossible to remove the horcrux without killing the boy, or at least driving him insane.

With a heavy heart he placed the book he was holding on the table next to him. Weeks of research had brought him no further than where he had started. A rich personal library had done next to nothing for his meager knowledge about the foul pieces of magic. The rarer tomes had hinted at the horcruxes darker nature, but hadn't given him an in depth explanation. Although he could say he had the basics down, he could hardly say he was an expert.

Even though his knowledge had expanded beyond what Dumbledore probably knew, he had found no solution to the problem. Harry had to die if Voldemort was to be killed.

Angrily he picked up the glass of brandy and brought it to his lips, while he stared into the fire with an absent gaze. It was no use. Perhaps the Dark Lord could be convinced to let the boy live. He did posses a part of the Dark Lord's soul after all.

That path had one mayor consequence however. Namely, that Voldemort would be immortal. The snake-like man, whom strived for pureblood supremacy, whom had a unquenchable hatred for the muggle race, would be allowed to rule the world. Because as long as Harry lived Voldemort could not be killed.

His researches had not been futile however. The curious thing about a horcrux inside a living being was that, as long as the horcrux was inside of the boy, he could not die of old age, only that what killed a horcrux, could kill the boy.

Severus Snape did not dare fool himself into thinking that he was in any way or shape able to bargain with the Dark Lord about his horcrux, nor did he allow himself to think that the Dark Lord would never find out. Right now he had the upper hand since he was one of the two people who knew. That gave him an advantage.

The alcoholic fluid tasted foul in his mouth, it was either that or the thought of Voldemort's plans that made his stomach churn in protest. Gracefully he placed the glass, now empty, on the table to his right. The fireplace was lid, but seemed unable to warm him, as the icy feeling lingered. With elegance he strode towards one of the bookshelves, dusty tome in hand. He neatly placed the book in the empty spot, before sighing uncharacteristically.

He was in no position to change the Dark Lord's view of an ideal world, but perhaps time would change his methods to be less murderous. It was the only thing he could hope for. The option of leaving Lily's son under Dumbledore's protection was not an option at all.

With a determined face he walked towards the roaring fireplace. Carefully taking a hand of floopowder he stepped into the flames, before throwing the powder in. He had plans to make, Dark Lords to please and saviors to kidnap.

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Well, this is the first chapter of one of the many plotbunnies that swarm around in my head. I have had this particular one, since I read the book for the second time and realized that Snape was too stubborn to let the boy whom he wanted to protect be killed.  
Severus Snape had always been one of my favorite characters and I hope I do him justice.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: The characters and settings, including any sentences taken directly or partly from the books or movies, of Harry Potter are the property of J. K. Rowling, Scholastic Books, Bloomsbury Publishing, AOL Time Link and Warner Brothers. I do not make money from publishing my story.

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A man appeared out of nowhere in the dark and cold lane. It was a moonless night, a time for new beginnings some would say. This man, dark haired and clad in equally dark clothes, did not care for such trivial foretelling. Divination, to him, had always been for people one knut short of a sickle.

The man turned right, striding in a particularly fast pace, it made his heavy cloak billow after him, sometimes making a whooshing sound in the silent night. He walked into a large driveway, stopping only momentarily to wait for the pair of wrought-iron gates to shimmer slightly before walking straight trough as if they were smoke.

Back to his fast and long strides, Severus Snape, walked alongside the yew hedges to the majestic mansion up ahead. The gravel under his feet was the only sound to be heard, as if someone had tuned out everything else. The windows of the large house, twinkled in the light of the candles lid inside.

Long, but even, strides up the steps brought him to the front door, which swung open as he approached, while no one visibly opened it. He continued his walk towards the stairs, while the eyes of the people inside the portraits, that lined the walls of the dimly lit hallway, followed him as he strode past.

He halted momentarily in the hallway upstairs. Taking a breath in front of a large wooden door, before steadily turning the bronze handle, his head held high, as he pushed the door open. He was met with a room full of people, sitting quietly at a large wooden table, while candles flickered giving the room an eerie glow, that even the handsome marble mantelpiece, in which the fireplace lay roaring could not undo.

'Severus', said a high and clear voice, belonging to the person sitting at the head of the table, 'How nice of you to join us.' Wand in hand the man indicated for Severus to take the seat closest to the fireplace, currently occupied by a balding small man, who went by the name of Wormtail.

The man scrambled to his feet, nearly tripping over his them in the process of making his way to stand next to the door. Severus paid him no attention as he took the seat and looked up at his master, not a single emotion displayed on his face.

The man seated at the head of the table lowered his hand, skin shining strangely in the candlelight as if emitting a pearly glow. His face hair-less, snake-like and with slits for nostrils turned towards Lucius.

'How is your son, Lucius?', his tone revealing, he was mocking and not the least bit interested in the boy, 'I hear he is as great of a disappointment as his father.' Lucius' face revealed the fear and humiliation he felt at the comment, but decided not to speak up.

'Do not worry, my friend, he will be punished accordingly when he fails', something like a smile formed on Voldemort's lipless face, while fear shone clearly in both Lucius' and Narcissa's eyes.

'I have confidence that Draco, will succeed, he is currently working on the Vanish…' Lucius began, his tone had none of that usual air of arrogance, while he spoke, just that bit of nervousness, that gave a slight tremor in his voice.

'I have no interest in your boy's repeatedly failing attempts', the Dark Lord said harshly ,'I want a way into Hogwarts, I want Dumbledore's head on a silver platter by the end of term.' Without even raising his voice, Voldemort managed to get Lucius quivering in his chair, while the rest of the company was glad they weren't in his place. '

'Fenrir, have you succeeded in creating an alliance with the werewolf packs?', the Dark Lord asked suddenly. Greyback's face seemed to lose some of its color when Voldemort directed his attention towards him, but managed to not stumble on his sentence.

'My Lord, the pack of western Wales, has agreed to our conditions, I have jet to form an alliance with the eastern pack,… they seem - unconvinced..' Fenrir began, quickly making excuses, 'I will go back tomor-….tonight to further convince them.' He hastily concluded his report, averting his eyes from his master

While the rest of the Death Eaters gave their report, Snape focused on the snake, currently laying her head on Voldemort's lap, while he stroked her back. It was an unusual sight, to see the Dark Lord give something that resembled comfort so closely.

He had known the snake, Nagini, since Voldemort's first reign. Still as frightening as 16 years ago and seemingly not aged a day. Could it be that the snake too, was a horcrux, containing a part of the Dark Lord's soul?

'Severus', his master said, shaking the potions master from his musings, 'have you any news?' Voldemort's full attention was on him now, something that no one enjoyed, except for maybe Bellatrix, but that woman was insane for a reason.

'The Order has caught wind of your plans to infiltrate the Ministry, my Lord, but I have assured them that you have not planned to. They doubted me at first, but the Headmaster places his trust in me as blindly as the Order follows him. It should pose no problem.'

Voldemort chuckled darkly at the way he thought his spy had deceived Dumbledore, while Snape was actually deceiving both of them. Severus has only ever served in Lily's best interests and now in her son's.

'My Lord, I have discovered some sensitive information about Dumbledore. If you would allow me to give you the rest of my report in private.' Intrigued by the thought of having information to use against his arch nemesis, he dismissed the rest of the company quickly.

The Dark Lord rose from his chair, while Nagini followed him towards the adjourning room, he motioned for Severus too to join him.

The room was as eerie as the previous, candles lit the room and paintings of elderly people filled the walls. With some quick wand movements, the dark and heavy curtains closed, a dust cloud following the motion, and every person was banished from his painting.

The Dark Lord sat down in one of the white leather chairs, motioning for Severus to seat himself in the chair opposite to him. The snake cuddled up in front of the burning fireplace, enjoying the heath of the flames.

'My Lord, recently it has come to my attention that the Headmaster has no intention of keeping the Potter boy alive, not forever at least. He needs you to kill the boy, so that when the time comes he will be able to kill you, my Lord, he needs you mortal.'

By now Voldemort had surely realized that they were talking about his horcruxes, even though he visibly gave no sign, he was surely startled. 'You musn't kill the boy –' Severus continued, but was harshly cut off by Voldemort.

'And why ever not, my dear Severus. Why should I not kill the one destined to end my rein?' Nagini slowly slithered towards her master, to offer him comfort, for she could feel his distress.

'My Lord, he has a piece of your soul, according to the Headmaster, that is why the boy is a Parselmouth, it is also the reason why you can look into his mind and he into yours', Severus was doing his best to assure Voldemort that it wouldn't be good, for him to kill a piece of his own soul.

'It would be unwise, my Lord, to destroy a piece of your own soul. It is not necessary to do so. Perhaps Potter can be turned towards our cause. It is Dumbledore who has lied to him all this time, who has been raising him like a pig for slaughter.'

Something of a smile made its way onto the Dark Lord's face, a maniacal grin would be a better way to describe it, but he was pleased nonetheless. 'Severus, you have served me well, but you too are a true Slytherin at heart, what would you require in return?'

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Second chapter done, I never imagined this story to write itself like this. Ok, I have done some characterstudy by reading some particular parts of the books again. I would hate to portray Voldemort wrong. So I hope I did alright and that you enjoyed this chapter.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: The characters and settings, including any sentences taken directly or partly from the books or movies, of Harry Potter are the property of J. K. Rowling, Scholastic Books, Bloomsbury Publishing, AOL Time Link and Warner Brothers. I do not make money from publishing my story.

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It was somewhat of a miracle that Severus was even allowed to leave Malfoy Manor, mostly in one piece. Bribing the Dark Lord was not something people normally did, let alone survive it and thus Severus had installed his own protection mechanism, that when he would be killed, information about the horcruxes would go to Minerva McGonagall, the only one he trusted to be truthful to Lily's son.

Luckily the mechanism had been proven superfluous. He had survived, he had named his terms and the Dark Lord was no doubt trying very hard to find a way around them. Nonetheless they had made a vow, a vow that took away one's magic for a short while when broken, making sure that Severus had a chance to run when the Dark Lord changed his mind.

Once again in the safety of his chambers he sat himself down in one of the heavy leather chairs near the fireplace, unlit it brought him no warmth, warmth he so desperately needed. Still shivering from the abuse he had received, he raised his wand with the illusion of strength to light the fire.

Far away, another was treating himself for the after effects of violence. At Privet Drive number 4 Harry Potter, held an icepack rolled into a towel to his swelling eye. Dudley had found it funny to slam the door in his face and it would probably result in a black eye. Fortunately, Vernon was at work and since Petunia had taken Dudley with her to the store soon after the incident it left Harry home alone, able to attend to his face.

Even though Petunia had made no effort to help him directly, she had been kind enough to indicate that they had an ice pack left in the refrigerator, since she couldn't have him walking around wounded and that being traced back to them after all. Harry smiled grimly at that thought, but the tension on his skin made him gasp in pain.

Icepack firmly held in place, Harry walked up the stairs, back to his room. He only had to survive one more summer, this one was almost over and the next one would be the last. He had survived for over ten years, surely he could survive a few more weeks. He felt silly, counting down the days he needed to stay with the Dursleys, but that was how he felt, used, unwanted and above all alone.

Losing Sirius had hit him hard, he felt like professor Lupin blamed him, just what he needed, as if he didn't blame himself enough already. His mind had come up with all the options he could have taken instead of running off to the ministry. He felt so stupid, it should've been him! Sirius didn't deserve to die, he was finally free again! It should have been him instead.

Shaking himself out of his thoughts, he took the ice pack off his bruised face, automatically touching it and wincing when his fingers met the purple colored places. Downstairs the door closed with a loud bang, notifying Harry that his aunt was home again.

'Harry, come down and make dinner!', she shouted soon after, Harry went down, reluctantly, but made sure to hurry, not wanting to get on her bad side. Apparently she had done some extra shopping and made sure that Harry at least had the right ingredients to work with. His aunt had requested he make a ridiculously complicated dessert she had seen one of her neighbors make. She had given him the recipe earlier this week and he had studied it, until he could dream it.

He was halfway through tempering the chocolate and had his soufflé in the oven, when Vernon came home from work. From the way his uncle hung up his coat, he could tell that he was in a good mood, that was a relief, he might actually get some real dinner tonight, instead of the sandwiches he had been eating most of the summer.

Petunia invited her husband to sit with her on the couch, while Dudley watched television. She asked him how his day was and meanwhile motioned for Harry to hurry up with dinner. Vernon noticed this and gave Harry one more foul look. 'Hurry up with dinner, boy, some of us worked hard today!'

'Yes, like me for example', Harry thought, but he didn't dare voice it. The soufflé was almost done and the dessert only needed to be assembled. Harry went to lay the table, while Dudley quickly stood up and made his way to the toilet passing through the kitchen as he did.

The egg-timer indicated that the soufflé was done, but when Harry went to get it out of the oven, he noticed the over was slightly open. Enough to let cool air into the oven. Praying that the soufflé would be good anyway, he plated up for three and waited patiently for their verdict.

By now, he had noticed that the soufflé had collapsed and his only hope was that they wouldn't notice, but the expression on Vernon's face said otherwise. 'This is what you serve my family, this poor excuse for a soufflé, you should be ashamed of yourself, we have given you everything and this is what we get in return. No proper meal for you today, boy! Make yourself a sandwich and finish dessert!'

He had that coming he thought, he didn't deserve anything more. The sandwich didn't taste nearly as good as the soufflé had smelled, but he ate it anyway. Dessert had been good enough and he had been sent to his room directly after dinner.

He slept, somewhat peacefully that night. While he had dreamed of Sirius, it hadn't been as bad as earlier this summer. After refreshing himself, he quickly went into the kitchen to make breakfast, he hoped he wouldn't make a mistake, because he didn't know how his uncle would take it after last night's incident.

By the time Harry was done with breakfast, Vernon, Petunia and Dudley had sat down at the table, waiting for their nephew to serve them. Harry did what was expected from him and before starting on his chores, he went to grab the mail, which surprisingly held a letter for him. He opened it quickly and read it:

_Dear Harry,  
In light of recent events, it would be in your best interest that you be moved. Someone I trust will transport you to a secure location soon. I cannot be specific about the date, since this letter might be intercepted. Be ready to be moved at any time and inform your family.  
Yours sincerely,  
AlbusDumbledore_

He had half a mind to jump for joy right this minute, but then he might actually be punished because he was happy. He didn't need to irritate his relatives further. He returned to the kitchen swiftly and gave the rest of the mail to his uncle.

They looked at him strangely when he read over his own letter again, but Petunia had already nodded to her husband when she had seen the person whom it was addressed to. Grumpily Vernon returned to his own mail, while he shoved in the rest of his breakfast.

After Harry cleaned up the table and had done the dishes, he excused himself and went to his room to pack his trunk. After all Dumbledore had said he needed to be ready any moment. He still wondered what inspired Dumbledore to sent it by muggle mail, but then again owl mail was more likely to be intercepted by death eaters.

Since Harry didn't have many items to put into his trunk, he managed to get it packed fairly quickly and return to his chores. His aunt had been creative this summer and had proposed he do some volunteer work in the community. She had said it would make them look good as a family and Harry had not objected.

He would do anything to get away from Dudley, cleaning public places, helping the elderly and babysitting children was way better than babysitting Dudley in Harry's opinion. Today he was to help clean the playground, his favorite place in the neighborhood.

Together with three other volunteers, Harry spent the entire afternoon cleaning the playground and by the time he was home he was nearly late to start dinner. Today's dinner was perfect and Harry was allowed a small portion of what he had made. Using the positive atmosphere he told them about the letter he had received earlier that day.

'This morning I received a letter from headmaster Dumbledore', Harry started, easing into the conversation and tiptoeing around his uncle's volatile temper ,'He informed me that someone is going to pick me up, someday soon and that I won't be back 'till next summer.'

'That's it?!' Vernon spat, while nearly holding the food in his mouth, he swallowed quickly and continued his rant, 'That is all the old coot has to say to us, no thank you, no nothing, he just informs us that you will be gone. Not that I mind it, we're better off without you, but he could at least show us some respect!'

Harry snorted at that, but covered it up nicely by acting as if he was choking, but decided not to react to his uncle's statement and clear the table. Every free minute of the day he thought about escaping the Dursleys, he hoped someone from the order would walk up to him and take him away.

By the time he lay down in his bed he was positively desperate to get away from them. The sound of the back door closing, however quietly caught his attention in his half asleep state. He knew his relatives were already asleep and a burglar was unlikely, just when he expected company. Harry knew it was someone for him. He quickly, put on some clothes and hastily put his pajamas in his trunk.

Attuned to the sounds of the house, he heard someone quietly walk up the stairs, momentarily stalling in the hallway and then opening his bedroom door. Harry had taken his wand in hand, just to be sure and waited to see a familiar face. 

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In respons to a review:  
- A horcrux does age, it just doesn't die from old age. In my humble opinion: otherwise Nagini would have been long dead.  
Thank you all for your support, be it through a review or by following me or the story! Thank you!


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: The characters and settings, including any sentences taken directly or partly from the books or movies, of Harry Potter are the property of J. K. Rowling, Scholastic Books, Bloomsbury Publishing, AOL Time Link and Warner Brothers. I do not make money from publishing my story.

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It was Snape, who had appeared in the doorway. His hated potions professor stood tall in the doorway, clad in black, one hand on the door handle and his wand held securely in the other. Threateningly he pointed the wand forward, towards Harry and did a quick scan of the room.

'Get your trunk, Potter', Snape sneered at him, 'Hurry up, boy!' Absently Harry did as he was told, he dragged his trunk to the middle of the room, where Snape motioned for him to stop. A quick wave of the man's wand, shrunk the trunk to the size of a matchbox, before Harry picked it up and put it in his pocket. Snape also shrunk down Hedwig's empty cage, before he hastily turned around and waited for Harry to follow him.

Harry locked the door behind him, before taking a sprint to catch up with his professor, who with his hasty strut had reached the street by now. Not once looking back, Snape made his way to the , for Harry very familiar, playground, where he finally stopped and somewhat nervously looked around.

'This will do', Snape mumbled before addressing Harry, 'We will be apparating, Potter, so give me your hand.' To Harry it sounded like something akin to a growl and even though he loathed to just comply with Snape's demands he knew that he would soon be with his friends. He just had to endure Snape a little bit longer.

Before he knew it, Harry felt like he was pushed through a small tube. His body protesting heavily, but it was over quickly. He had hardly any time to catch his breath, before Snape went back to his relentless pace and started walking away from Harry.

It looked like an ordinary neighborhood. The streets were dead straight and lined with ordinary brick houses. Some of the lightposts were broken, making it hard for Harry to keep up with his teacher's pace. Even though the cobbled stones did not seem to slow Snape down, it certainly make Harry mind his steps.

Within minutes of their arrival in the strange and dark neighborhood, they had arrived at one of the plain houses in a street called _Spinner's end. _From the outside it couldn't be distinguished from the others at all, but since Snape decided to stop here, this must be their destination.

Harry was about to ask his professor where they were and what business they had here, but one look from the man was enough to shut him up. A quick flick of the man's wand opened the wooden door after which he hastily pulled his student inside.

They stepped directly into a tiny sitting room. It made Harry feel as though he had arrived in a bookstore, though late at night. The walls were completely covered in books, looking magical in nature because of their black and brown leather bindings. The room was lit by candlelight, the candles though almost burned up.

Harry stood uncomfortably in the small room, not daring to touch anything or even sit on the old sofa or armchair. Meanwhile Snape took the shrunken trunk and cage from his pocket and set them on the floor before he cast a spell to transform them back to their normal size. Another flick of the wand had them pushed against one of the book-filled walls, before Snape turned his attention to his student.

"Potter, take a seat", while Snape said so, he motioned for Harry to take place on the sofa, so he could take the armchair. Still somewhat in awe of his surroundings, Harry tried to keep quiet and not agitate his professor by asking question, that would undoubtedly be labeled as stupid.

"I understand that you have questions, I must ask you to save them for after my explanation", at this a frown began to overtake Harry's face, but Severus paid it no heed. "I also understand that you didn't expect nor want me to be the one to move you to a secure location, however it has come to my attention that your security is no longer guaranteed in the headmasters however capable hands."

This of course made Harry want to protest and so he did, "Then why have you taken me here on Dumbledore's orders?!" A small smile of rather sneer began to form on Severus' face, but it was quickly replaced with a mask of indifference.

"I never said nor implied I took you from your _family_ on the Headmaster's orders. You are no longer safe at Hogwarts. The Headmaster only sees the greater good, that is his one great imperfection. His age, has made him somewhat inhumane, he can no longer see the individual, he can only see the cause."

Harry's expression made it clear to Snape that he was not willing to listen, at least not yet. "Think on it, Potter." A flick of the teacher's wand, made the trunk and cage slide to the center of the room. "Take your things upstairs, the stairs is there to the right. Upstairs, the second room to the left is yours. Tomorrow, breakfast is at seven. I expect you clean and dressed and on time"

As Harry made his way up the stairs with his heavy trunk, the old stairs creaked under the weight. It almost felt like the stairs were about the fail under the weight, but thankfully they hold up. He found his small and dark room at the end of the hallway.

It was a room decorated with dark woods and crème whites. It hadn't been dusted off in a while and like the other room Harry had seen, it's walls were covered in books. A bed and wardrobe were neatly placed against the one wall that was left bookless.

Not sure how long he was supposed to stay here, he didn't unpack his trunk. He placed Hedwig's cage on his bedside table and shoved his trunk to the side. The light wasn't really bright, but it was just enough for Harry to read some of the titles of the books.

It was a wide range of subjects from many potions related books to muggle poets and greek philosophers. Harry was somewhat surprised by the variety. He was too tired however to think much about it or even about the conversation he had just had with Snape. So he tried to forget his worries and catch some sleep.

Downstairs Severus was looking for a way to convince his new charge of his current position. He poured himself a glass of absinthe, a drink he learned to enjoy during his apprenticeship. His master had been particularly fond of it and it had almost caused his death, luckily the man was a skilled master and had carried a bezoar nearly everywhere.

He took another sip and took the book from the side table and began to read it. It was one of the potions journals of his teacher. That man had been working on separating the mind from the body via a potion. Snape was currently rereading the book in the hopes of finding a solution to separating the horcrux and a living being.

Two hours and one glass of absinthe later, Snape too decided to head off to bed. He laid his book back on the side table and downed the last drops of liquor before heading off to his room and falling into a somewhat peaceful sleep.

The next morning came quickly for both residents of the house. The curtains of the guest bedroom couldn't keep the light out completely and thus Harry awoke early, woken by a wonderful summer sunrise. When rubbing his eyes in an attempt to fully awaken, he noticed his eye still felt sore due to the bruise given to him by his nephew, but he discarded that thought quickly when he noticed the time.

It was a quarter to seven and Harry hurried to freshen himself up and be down in time for breakfast. He wouldn't put it past Snape to forbid him from having breakfast just because he was late. Fortunately he was on time and Snape invited him into the kitchen.

"Morning, Potter", apparently Snape was as sour in the morning as he was any part of the day. "Good morning, sir", he replied as gently as he could. "Help yourself", he sneered. Deciding he didn't need to further anger the man, he quickly took some toast with cheese and a cup of tea, it was the best breakfast he had in weeks.

After breakfast he helped his teacher clean up the dishes, not a foul word was spoken. Actually nothing was said at all. Until Harry dismissed himself and turned his blue eye towards his professor, whom suddenly raised his hand and grabbed his student's chin to keep the face from turning away from him.

"Where did you get this, Potter?", care shone through into his voice , "Fought with your pillow have we?" Snape made an attempt to cover up his care for the boy by ridiculing him, but even to his own ears it sounded like a failure.

"Ehh… I was just playing around with my cousin", or rather he was playing with me. Harry tried to laugh it off, but Snape was unconvinced. "I know, your family is… strict with you, they sometimes take it too far. This is undoubtedly one of those times", Snape walked away to one of his cupboards and took a jar.

"Here, apply this generously, it will help", Severus was amazed by his own actions, he knew what it felt like to be the black sheep of the family and he had noticed the same signs in Lily's boy, this was his chance to help him, but he was amazed that he actually felt for the boy and not only for what he represented.

"Why do you help me now? When all you have ever done is ridicule me and hate me?", Harry asked honestly surprised by Snape's behavior. "You will suffer enough soon", Severus said, "There is no need to make you suffer more. Now tend to your injury and join me in the living room shortly."


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: The characters and settings, including any sentences taken directly or partly from the books or movies, of Harry Potter are the property of J. K. Rowling, Scholastic Books, Bloomsbury Publishing, AOL Time Link and Warner Brothers. I do not make money from publishing my story.

* * *

Still dumbstruck by Snape's willingness to help him, he tended to his eye. Meanwhile Snape had made them both a cup of tea and went to sit in his armchair. Nervously Harry took a seat on the sofa and took small sips from the tea

"It is unlikely that your tiny brains will be able to comprehend everything I say, but I must ask you to save those questions for after I have explained everything", Snape said, looking at Harry strongly, which made the boy nod quickly, but otherwise keep him from talking.

"According to a true prophecy, you are the only one who can defeat the Dark Lord. Even though you believe me to be dark, I do want him dead. He killed the one I loved." This shocked Harry a bit. Oh he did believe that Snape had loved someone, how else could someone turn this bitter. It surprised him however that Snape admitted to him, that he had loved someone once.

"The Headmaster knows that you are the only one who can defeat the Dark Lord and had planned for you to start preparing you, however he does not plan for you to survive. He believes that for the Dark Lord to be defeated, you too must die."

"But Dumbledore –", Harry yelled, before he was cut off by a pointy look from his teacher. "I assure you that what I am telling you is the truth. As I have said before the Headmaster only sees the greater good."

"Before and during the Dark Lord's first reign, the Dark Lord made plans to make himself immortal. As you know he does not like being dependant on something or someone. He found an ancient type of magic that allowed him to split his soul and store it in an object, so that when his body and that part of the soul were destroyed, he would still be able to come back. By murdering someone he ripped of a part of his soul which he could then place in an object of his choice."

"Horcruxes they are called. He carefully stored pieces of his soul in objects and sometimes living beings. He has stored one piece of his soul in his snake Nagini. There was one piece of soul however that he did not store on purpose. By murdering your parents he tore his soul and that is when something happened that none had foreseen. You defeated the Dark Lord, the fragment of his soul that had been ripped, latched itself onto the only living being it could find. That piece of the Dark Lord's soul latched onto you."

By now, Harry looked positively shell shocked. He felt sick when he thought of the fact that he carried around a piece of Voldemort's soul and had to keep his gag reflex under control. Snape was not done explaining however and he continued.

"For you to truly rid this world of the Dark Lord, you must destroy all the pieces of his soul, that means the piece that resides in you must also be destroyed. The Headmaster has searched for a way to do exactly that, but came up empty. The Headmaster has decided that you must sacrifice yourself, to destroy this piece of soul and hope that someone can ultimately kill the Dark Lord and vanquish him forever."

"I believe that this is not the solution, that is why I have taken you from your family. The Headmaster has betrayed both our trust. I do not believe that a world reigned by the Dark Lord as he is now is an ideal world, but neither is a world ruled by a man who only believes in the greater good who does not see the individual anymore."

A lot of things went through Harry's head. He was glad that someone took his side for once even if it was his most hated professor. He doubted he would ever be able to kill Voldemort, but hiding away wasn't what he wanted either. He was worried about his friends and all the others who relied on him to defeat Voldemort. Harry was confused and somewhat angry at people once again deciding things for him, but he managed to keep his anger in check.

"What can _I _do?!", Harry asked, "I can't defeat Voldemort and I don't want to _die_!" Panic began to find its way into Harry's voice. "Why am I responsible for what Voldemort did, why must I stop him?!" Even though Harry wanted to protect his friends from Voldemort, he felt like it was someone else's turn to protect him for once.

"You are not responsible for what the Dark Lord did, but you are involved in his plans. I took you from your relatives to protect you from him and I intend to keep you protected, but for my it to be effective. I will have to teach you first how to defend yourself. We shall begin right away."

He understood and even appreciated that Snape wanted to help him, but he was still somewhat reserved. Nonetheless he rose from his chair to follow Snape, who handed him some books and demanded he read them right away.

The books had a wide range of subjects. One was about warding while another was about magical transportation and another was on antidotes against uncommon potions. Not all of the subjects looked evenly interesting, so he started with the ones about warding.

This was how the following days were spend. Harry would read up on whatever subject Snape deemed necessary to learn and later the professor would question him thoroughly about it. Leaving none of the details out and while Harry was studying Snape would often disappear into his own room or even leave to attend one of Voldemort's meetings, without Harry being any the wiser of course.

Snape still seemed as sour as ever, correcting Harry furiously whenever he was wrong, but he also inspired trust in Harry. Giving him advice and further information when Harry showed how hard he worked.

Thanks to both of their combined work, Harry now had basic understanding of most of the things that could save his life in a dangerous situation. He had most of the theory down and thanks to some advanced wards around Snape's house to avoid detection of some magic, he had gained some practical knowledge too. From how to find and cast wards, to getting a fire going without his wand.

Snape had surprised him with some of the muggle techniques he had taught Harry, but Harry soaked up all the information like a sponge, which in turn surprised Snape. The two had become used to living together and were less inclined to fight. The atmosphere was flourishing in light of their newfound 'friendship'.

One ordinary day, late in the afternoon, Snape stepped out of his room. While his face gave nothing away, Harry had become quite adapt at reading Snape's body language. He seemed hasty and somewhat worried. Harry's feeling was confirmed when Snape told him to collect his important belongings.

Harry ran upstairs and quickly shrunk his trunk and put it in his pocket, lucky for him, Hedwig was still at Hermione's, meaning he didn't have to worry about his pet. Hastily he ran down the stairs, where Snape roughly grabbed him by the arm and pulled him outside.

Barely keeping up with his professor, they ran down the street, when suddenly the house they occupied only minutes ago went up in flames. Small, but still loud explosions went off inside of the building and the door was blasted outwards.

In the moment Harry was caught off guard, two people had appeared in front of them from behind one of the other houses. They wore black robes and their wands were aimed at Harry, they were clearly Voldemort's men. Snape, ever the spy, was quick to react and fired of two of his own spells before the two deatheaters could assess the situation.

Soon it became a battle of spells in which Harry had quickly joined in. Neither party had the upper hand, even though Snape and Harry had been getting closer to the apparition point. However the two deatheaters were soon joined by another two, one of whom was clearly Lucius Malfoy.

"Give the boy up Snape, you are clearly surrounded", the silky smooth voice of Lucius Malfoy sounded through the moist air while stepping forward. The blonde took another step forward, while he took his mask off. "Act like a true Slytherin, Snape, and save your own hide."

Snape, knowing they couldn't take on all four at once, edged closer to Harry. Even though making an illegal portkey meant they, meaning the Ministry and every spy who reported back to either Dumbledore or the Dark Lord, could trace Severus' magical signature ,but it seemed like the only way for them to escape, while the apparition point was still miles away. He silently cast the portkey spell at a coin he happened to have in his pocket.

"_Stupefy", _Harry cried wand outstretched, he had been aiming at one of the other deatheaters and hit him squarely in the chest, making him succumb to the effects of the spell. Again the fight broke loose and the deatheaters drove Harry and Snape away from each other. Severus had missed his opportunity to get close to Harry and disappear by portkey.

Harry had his hands full with a deatheater called Rabastan, while Snape was taking on both Lucius and Rudolphus. When suddenly an incantation was yelled, that stopped the professor in his tracks. "_Avada Kedavra"._


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: The characters and settings, including any sentences taken directly or partly from the books or movies, of Harry Potter are the property of J. K. Rowling, Scholastic Books, Bloomsbury Publishing, AOL Time Link and Warner Brothers. I do not make money from publishing my story.

* * *

'Avada Kedavra', echoed the voice of Rudolphus Lestrange. A jet of bright green energy made its way to Snape. Snape knew that if he jumped out of the way, the chances were high that the boy would be hit in his stead and while the professor was unwilling to move, Harry was frozen by the shock of hearing and seeing the death's curse.

The green light made his way towards Snape at an enormous speed, when suddenly a wind whirled up around them. An ominous feeling arose in Harry's stomache and before the spell could hit Snape a window of one of the nearby houses shattered and a simple glass shard reflected the deadly curse away from Snape onto the street.

In a whirlwind a dark energy appeared with in the middle a man wearing a black cloak. A thin and pale bone-like hand wrapped around a skeletal wand was the first thing that was visible as soon as the wind died down. The black cloak surrounding the figure fell fown sleekly around the very thin figure when it was no longer held airborne by the wind, but lost none of its eerie feeling.

And as the wind died down around the figure and the people present were able to recognize the person, the deatheaters recovered from their shock and fell down on one knee and bow down their heads in submission.

As Harry turned around to look at the figure that had interrupted their fight. Even though he had recognized the figure by the pain he caused in Harry's head, which made him rub his forehead. Harry wanted the visual confirmation that his arch nemesis had just appeared.

Harry confirmed that it was indeed Voldemort that had appeared midst of their battle and ,whether it had been on purpose or not, apparently saved professor Snape. While the deatheaters were distracted by their master's appearance , Harry stepped closer to said professor.

"Did I not command you to leave both Snape and the boy alive and unharmed", even though it was posed as a question, it was clearly a sign of annoyance. Voldemort's voice betrayed the irritation he felt towards his minions.

While addressing the deatheaters, save for Snape of course, whom he had purposefully ignored. He walked towards Rudolphus. "As I recall the _avada Kedavra _curse is still the Death curse and casting it upon either of them would go against my very order!" Voldemort finished his sentence with a small hiss, but a very clear threatening undertone. His wand still raised he cast a Cruciatus curse upon the kneeling deatheater, who then began to groan and bite his teeth in pain.

The curse was held for about half a minute, when Rudolphus was beginning to show signs of choking and vomiting at the same time. When the curse was released, the tortured deatheater fell to the floor exhausted and showing some muscle spasms, but neither Voldemort or the other deatheaters showed him their attention as it was all focused on Snape.

" Well, well, Snape, my Slithering snake, I never expected you to take Potter from directly under the old goat's nose. Nor did I expect you keep the Potterboy from me, since we had just agreed that he would be safer on the Dark side", Voldemort now focused his attention on Harry.

The part of his soul that lived inside the boy, the horcrux, how he wanted it back. He longed for it, he didn't feel it was safe were it resided now. Both Dumbledore and the spy knew of its existence, no doubt the boy would soon find out and who knows whom Dumbledore had told his secret to.

He wanted the boy, so he could safely lock away his horcrux until he could find a way to separate his precious horcrux from the boy who had ruined it all. With everyone's attention now focused on Harry as Voldemort slowly stepped closer. Snape took his chance and took a giant leap towards his student, grabbed his firmly by the arm and activated the portkey.

It all happened so fast that Harry had no time to react to sudden movement of his teacher and was swift away safely by the portkey. Voldemort still being a fair distance away from both of them saw Snape leap for the boy and was able to cast a _reducto_ curse just before they disappeared, he didn't see whether either of them was hit, but he could care less. Someone was in a whole lot of trouble.

He turned on his heels, send another _cruciatus _curse towards Rudolphus, who had just been recuperating from the first round. Before Voldemort flashed away in a cloud of dark smoke. Leaving the four deatheaters, out of which two were unable to stand on their own, behind. He had to trace the portkey his spy had just made, his infiltrator in the Ministry could help him with that.

Somewhere else in England, two people had popped out of thin air. They landed on soft grass, or at least it would have been a soft landing if they hadn't popped out three feet above the ground. The landed quite hard and both made a groan of protest.

Harry stood up and did a quick survey of the area, although he didn't know where they were, it looked safe, no deatheaters, no Dumbledore. Snape too did a quick scan of the area, though he was forced to do it seated, as he quickly discovered, Voldemort's curse had managed to hit him, just before they disappeared.

Harry noticed his professor had a hard time standing up and tried to help him. Snape had half a mind to ignore his student, but knew he needed the help, if he wanted to get up before someone tracked them down. They were already short on time and thus Snape allowed Harry to help him by using Harry's shoulder as support while he limped in the direction of the lonely house visible in the distance.

The house was massive or at least it was to Harry's standards. Draco Malfoy would probably say it was the size of their maids quarters. Anyway, it was clear that the mansion was their destination as it was the only shelter in the area. There were a few trees, but nothing more than that.

Even though the area was ideal for their situation, very open so they could survey it easily and the weather had been on their side so far. Their luck however was slowly running out. It was late in the afternoon when Snape came home and by now it was getting dark quickly. Together they quickly made it to the front door.

Severus let go of his pupil and hastily brought his wand to his other hand, with a swift movement the skin blood began to flow on the palm of the hand where he had drawn the line with his wand. Before the blood could drop to the floor, Severus quickly placed his hand to the old oaken door.

As in response to the offered blood, the door gained a magical shine to it and bloody streaks, resembling tree roots, reached out from under Severus' hand into all directions until they sunk into the very wood and the shine disappeared. Another stroke of Severus' wand and the wound on his hand disappeared.

Being outside made Harry a little nervous after just being attacked, he wanted to get inside as soon as possible, but reaching for the door was clearly the wrong option to go for right now. As he reached for the door knob in an attempt to open the door, his hand was slapped away by the professor.

"You still need to be keyed in to the wards", Severus said warningly, before he roughly grabbed the hand he had just slapped away. He had a line on Harry's and quickly after that the first drops of blood appeared. The hand was placed on the door and Snape quietly whispered a few words that Harry couldn't make out.

After he had keyed Harry in to the wards, Severus opened the heavy oaken door and pushed his student into the large hall behind it. Snape saw the bright shimmer surrounding the house when Harry entered as if the house had taken him into his arms and decided to protect him as would he.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: The characters and settings, including any sentences taken directly or partly from the books or movies, of Harry Potter are the property of J. K. Rowling, Scholastic Books, Bloomsbury Publishing, AOL Time Link and Warner Brothers. I do not make money from publishing my story.

* * *

Snape limped into the hall after his student and Harry quickly offered support again. The hall was large in volume and the ceiling was at least three stories high. A broad white marble staircase started in the center of the room. It was circular in shape and made a lovely balcony on the first floor before continuing to the second in the same manner.

Wand still in hand and at the ready, Severus cast the _Hominum Revelio _spell, which indicated that they were alone on the property. Quietly, which in Harry's case was caused by him still being in awe of the mansion, they continued to the next room. Snape was momentarily distracted by the movement of the paintings on the wall there, to which he had raised his wand. The fine balance of the two people limping into the room was disturbed for a moment, at which it was restored when Snape lowered his wand again.

Adjoining to the hall was a fine living. The room was full of dark wooden furniture with white accents. The floor was again white marble, but crèmes and dark brown carpets accented the room nicely. It was a welcome change from the crowded rooms of Snape's home, but it made Harry wonder who's house this was.

"Put your belongings on the floor", he could be imagining it of course, but it sounded as if there was less malice in Snape's voice than usual. Deciding he didn't need to agitate his professor and bring back the malice in his voice, he quickly did as he was told.

While Severus was returning their belongings to their original size, the paintings on the wall of the living had caught Harry's eye. The paintings moved, proving that the house in which they resided had once belonged to a wizard, and while Harry didn't recognize any of the witches or wizards in them, he felt like they all resembled one another, like family did.

Meanwhile Severus had taken a variety of potions out of one of his own bags and drank one and applied at least two of them, mild pain reliever and a mild pain reliever. He also applied some orange paste to the wound itself, which seemed to heal the burn on the skin. After which Severus cleaned up and concentrated on his student and that which Harry had been obsessed with for the last few minutes.

Severus stepped up behind his pupil, "these people were all Princes, my mother's family", he turned away from the paintings and took a seat in one of the armchairs. His eyes glossed over in memory as he continued to talk.

"My mother was the eldest, having one younger brother. Her father and mother were both purebloods and had been raised as strictly as any pureblood. They believed that interbreeding with muggles would mean the end of the magical race and that lowering ourselves to technology was the lowest thing to do. They were as they would have called it a _proper _wizarding family."

Harry was reminded of his aunt and uncle, who wanted nothing but to be normal. He guessed that counted for Snape's relatives too, but their opinions of what was _normal_ could not have been further apart.

"My mother was happy and so were my parents. That was until my mother fell in love with a muggle my father. Her whole family abandoned her and even disinherited her. Her parents stripped her of the Prince name and acted if she had died, even her brother whom she had been very close to."

Snape indicated to the very last painting to the right. It was of a man, not very old, but he looked quite sickly. He had the same dark brown almost black eyes, that his professor had. "She really loved my father, but my father wasn't too keen on her being a witch", Snape continued his tale, " as I remember he wasn't too keen on me as well."

"Her parents died soon after her marriage with my father, within six months of each other, they went sick with a mysterious illness, they say, I believe they died out of their loss of their darling daughter, they had never been the same after she left. Somehow I believe they had been forced to disinherit her. Her brother lived on for a few years, but then he too died, of dragonpoxs."

"Ever since my uncles death, I have been the sole heir to the Prince estate and heirlooms, that includes this mansion, though it only recently came to my attention", Snape said, concluding his lecture, by the look on his face he was done showing emotion, "this mansion will be our safe house, for now, do not unpack all your belongings, we need to be able to run at a moment's notice. Go upstairs and pick any room you like."

Harry walked over to his belongings and went to take them upstairs. Just before he left the room, Snape turned to him, "Get some sleep, Harry, you look like you need it." When he reached the first door upstairs, he took it. His legs felt like lead and he would really like to put his heavy trunk aside. So when he took the first door and it opened up to a medium sized bedroom with adjoining bathroom, he took it.

When he was getting ready for bed, he glanced in the mirror, even though Snape was right did he have to make it sound so sincere. Normally he wouldn't have taken a comment like that from Snape serious, but when he was still this emotional and used his given name..

Meanwhile Snape was checking all the existing wards and casting some of his own. Even though this house once belonged to a pureblooded family, which meant that a lot of time and effort had been spent on the wards, Severus needed to cast some of his own wards, just to let himself feel more at ease.

It had been a long and stressful day and soon Severus too retired to one of the bedrooms on the first floor. Before going to bed however he took one last look at the grounds, making sure that no one was there, even though the wards would warn him if anyone tried to breach the ground's wards. That night both wizards slept almost peacefully. Harry wasn't disturbed by dreams of his dying godfather nor of Voldemort related nightmares. Severus too slept without being tormented by the Dark Lord and the only thing that woke them both was the first light that shone into their rooms, produced by the warm July sun.

Still into their summer routine, breakfast was served between the two of them. It wasn't much, but Severus hadn't had much time to arrange provisions before they had fled Spinner's End. Nonetheless they enjoyed their breakfast, albeit simple toast and tea, and afterwards they cleaned up together. "Let's get you down to the library, I can help you with some studying and maybe get some of my own research done", Severus gave Harry a nudge out the door and the led Harry into the entrance hall again. The kitchen and dining room were on the same side of the house as the living. Harry hadn't been to the other side of the house yet.

They entered another cozy room. A lot of dark wood and green, the accents were in crèmes, which made it lighten up, but the most eye-catching feature of the room must have been the fireplace. A lovely white marble fireplace framed in dark wood and very detailed ironwork. The walls were covered in books and Harry felt like he was back at Hogwarts again, because adjoining to the cozy room were at least three smaller rooms all filled with more books.

Neither the height of the ceiling or the variety of books was inferior to Hogwarts own library. He should have expected it. A family as old as the Prince's would have had enough time to collect a fair amount of books and according to this, each family member had had different interests, but one subject stood out as one of the smaller rooms was filled with books on that subject alone, Potions. Severus began rummaging the different rooms and ended up with quite the stack of books, all kinds of subjects. Half the stack was meant for Harry, whom quickly accepted the stack when Snape handed it to him.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: The characters and settings, including any sentences taken directly or partly from the books or movies, of Harry Potter are the property of J. K. Rowling, Scholastic Books, Bloomsbury Publishing, AOL Time Link and Warner Brothers. I do not make money from publishing my story.

* * *

Harry had never thought he would be studying together with Snape. It was not only that they were seated together in the same room, not making mean comments or mean glances towards each other. It was also that they had gotten caught up in an academic debate. Severus was interested in how the horcrux within Harry had reacted to some of his _escapades._

Severus wasn't the only one who gathered more information on his subject, he also tried to teach Harry about the different potions and balms he had premade and put in his bags. Severus was now sure that when he was incapable of giving himself or Harry first aid, his student would do an average job of it.

He also taught his student to apparate. Even though Harry couldn't apparate to their next destination, based on the distance, he could also still be tracked because of the trace of the ministry on him, but it would be a valuable skill during battle, when the trace wouldn't matter anymore. But they also considered the fact that they wouldn't be able to apparate through the wards, inside it was fine, but neither they nor the enemy could apparate through them.

Even though the day went relatively quiet, Severus knew that it was only a matter of time before either the ministry, Dumbledore or the Dark Lord would come knocking on their door. In the best case scenario, Severus would be able to teach Harry most survival magic that the Prince library had to offer before they had to flee the mansion. Severus had another family home, that they could live in for a while, by apparating there they couldn't be tracked easily by any party.

But luck wasn't on their side. By the end of the next day, just after Harry had done his first successful apparition on close distance, meaning within the house, a soft ringing tune produced by some kind of bell sounded through the house.

"The perimeter wards", Severus said both to himself and his student, "gather our supplies!" Both Severus and Harry sped up their movements. Harry gathered their belongings from upstairs, while Severus gathered some of the more interesting books and their last provisions in the kitchen.

Soon enough loud banging could be heard throughout the house, its source were the wizards outside casting spells to bring down the wards. After quickly collecting their belongings, shrinking them and putting them away, Severus indicated they should go to the back of the castle, hoping they could get to the border of the wards, where Severus would be able to apparate them away.

Suddenly a loud voice could be heard, it was Dumbledore's, sounding al throughout the house and surrounding area. "Severus, it is in your best interests to give yourselves up. You are only endangering the boy more", the voice sounded kind and caring, but both Severus and Harry knew that the headmaster could manipulate almost anyone. They wouldn't allow themselves to be captured.

"What do we do now, sir?", Harry said, even though the headmaster didn't have his best interest at heart, the rest of the Order wouldn't purposefully harm him. To fight them all out would probably mean he had to harm his friends.

"We will try to run out of the back, using non-lethal spells we try to get as much time as possible, we should try to get to the edge of the wards as soon as possible, I will apparate us to the next safe house", it was a clear plan, but with a lot of risks.

Just as they leaped out of the back door, a loud bang signified that the last ward had fallen. The small amount of time it had taken Dumbledore and the rest of the Order to break the ancient wards made clear how many people were outside, because the wards had been very strong and only with a large group of people could they be taken down.

As soon as they went out of the door, they were fired upon with _stupefy _and _petrificus totalis, _these spells were fired by at least three people that were standing guard by this way out. Severus and Harry went on the defense, using nearly only shielding spells and disarming spells. Sometimes using a jinx involving the environment, making a swamp appear behind them, to keep them from following.

This all while running and when more and more Order members appeared. Soon enough they could identify their attackers. Tonks, Lupin and Arthur Weasley were the first three that had opened fire upon them.

Very quickly more people were appearing shooting spells left and right, but only hitting air or shields. The more people arrived, the harder it became for Harry and Severus to cover ground and escape. That and the fact that Severus' recent injury hadn't healed completely yet, making it harder for him to keep up with his younger and fitter student. Soon enough they came to a halt, when headmaster Dumbledore appeared.

He had yet to cast any spells, but Severus stood still now, to be able to deflect any spell this powerful man might fire off. "Severus, please don't take the boy down with you. Let Harry go, you are only confused. Please let us help you."

Together Harry and Snape managed to slowly back away from the Order. "You no longer have Harry's best interests at heart, Albus", Severus said, while remaining alert and keeping his wand aimed at the different order members. Harry too frantically tried to keep check of everything that happened around him, while not directly looking at Remus or mr. Weasley.

Harry was afraid he would see that they were disappointed in him, or that they gave him disapproving looks for going with Snape. They didn't understand that he just wanted someone to be truthful to him, to keep him in the loop about the threats to his life, the exact thing that Snape had been doing from when he had taken him from the Dursleys. 'Ok, from when he had arrived at Spinner's end.'

He needed someone who did not baby him and helped him to prepare for his inevitable destiny of defeating Voldemort. "Surely we can sort this misunderstanding out, Severus, Harry", and while the Headmaster addressed each of them he looked at them intently. Both Severus and Harry avoided the immediate eye contact, their plans had to stay safe and they were aware that the Headmaster would read them from their minds if he got the chance.

"Harry, please, we care for you", deciding Harry was the weaker factor in the duo, Albus guided his attention to his student, "let us help you, I am sure that we can find a solution to whatever is making you do this." After hearing what Severus had told him about the Headmaster's plans, he sincerely doubted the man. The sweet voice the Headmaster was talking in set his teeth on edge.

"Your plan was never to help _me_!", Harry shouted, gaining him disapproving looks from the rest of the Order, though the Headmaster didn't bat an eyelash. "You only care for the greater good, as long as Voldemort is dead, you don't care who else dies!" A few of the people flinched at Harry's outburst, either by the Dark Lord's name or that what Harry was implying.

"I am very sorry that you think that, Harry, but I truly wish to help you", the Headmaster's face showed he cared about him, but Harry wasn't fooled by it. The Headmaster had lied to him before, he could easily do it again.

"You knew there was a piece of Voldemort inside me, all this time, you never told me, you never helped me, you never tried to alleviate the consequences!", this revelation shocked several of the already taken aback Order members, but Harry took no notice of them. "I'm done being your puppet Headmaster, I will learn how to rely on myself, taught by someone who will not lie to me, who I know will not coddle me! I will take down Voldemort on my own terms! Maybe I will die, but at least I will know that I did everything I could!"

Severus had to admit he was quite proud of the boy, few had the guts to stand up to the great Albus Dumbledore like this and even fewer managed to get a rise out of him. Yes, Albus Dumbledore was not happy, though invisible to anyone but Snape and maybe a few others, he was indeed very angry.

"It is sad that your mind is clouded to any reason, I find it unfortunate that we will have to stop you by force", suddenly the battle livened up again. While no one fired any lethal spells, Harry and Snape were severely outnumbered and were mainly focused on keeping up their protective barriers.

While Dumbledore's spells were the hardest to keep at bay, their shields nearly crumbled under the power of some of his spells. "I was being merciful, Harry, to allow your death. The horcrux has been part of you for so long that when it is destroyed, you will suffer greatly because of it. I hoped to spare you the pain, but it seems you will not listen to reason, I hope you will forgive me for this. _exorcizamus anima_"

It took a moment too long for Severus to realize where the Headmaster's speech was headed, he reacted a moment too late. The spell Dumbledore had fired, was one that he did not recognize, but according to the speech it would harm Harry. The fact that Dumbledore hadn't taken down their shields first, probably meant it would go right trough them.

Snape was not surprised then when the spell shattered all their shields before it hit Harry straight in his chest. The moment it hit Harry a huge shockwave appeared with the student at its center. All spells disintegrated as well as the wards. The sky glittered with the remains of the all the spells and it looked absolutely beautiful, soon the beauty of the headmaster's spell ended. Harry Potter began screaming as if he had been cursed with the _Cruciatus _curse.

All people were concerned about the boy, including the Headmaster who had no idea what kind of damage his recently discovered archaic spell would do to his student. It had only been described as a spell to exorcise tainted souls, which Voldemort's soul clearly qualified as, it hadn't described any damage being done to the vessel of the soulpiece,

In the midst of the confusion Severus took advantage of everyone's distraction, as he leaped towards his student and apparated them both away.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: The characters and settings, including any sentences taken directly or partly from the books or movies, of Harry Potter are the property of J. K. Rowling, Scholastic Books, Bloomsbury Publishing, AOL Time Link and Warner Brothers. I do not make money from publishing my story.

* * *

Sheer agony, was the only way Harry could describe it, as soon as the Headmaster's spell had hit him, he felt like he had been hit with a variation of the _Cruciatus _curse, but instead of his skin being on fire, it felt as if someone was tearing his heart out of his chest, as if some kind of beast had gone rampant inside of his torso and he could feel something move under his skin, painfully throbbing wherever it went.

He screamed and began clamming at his chest, anything to make it stop, the pain was worse than anything he had ever experienced and it seemed to go on for ages. His fingers bleeding from the extent to which he had gone to claw open his own chest, which too was covered in blood. Seconds felt like hours and the pain became no less. He was nearly unaware of someone grabbing on to him and apparating them away, the uncomfortable feeling of apparating lost in the sea of pain.

Severus had to make a split-second decision as to where to take his injured student. Yes, he was quite capable of healing even major injuries, it shouldn't have affected their plans, he could just have apparated them to the next safe house and treated the boy there. However this was not an injure he was able to heal, the fact that he didn't recognize the Headmaster's spell ,made him wary of what other effects it may have had other than the most obvious ones.

He had two options, take Harry to his own safe house and endanger the boy's health or take the boy elsewhere and risk both of their lives. In that split second, he didn't care about his own life, he promised Lily he would keep her son safe and now the boy was suffering. He would take the boy elsewhere and the only one who could possibly posses the knowledge capable of healing the boy, without handing them over to Dumbledore, was sadly enough the Dark Lord himself.

That was why they were currently outside the gate of Malfoy manor, bloody and beaten, but thankfully still alive, for now. Harry was still wriggling and screaming, but there was nothing Severus could do right now that could even lessen the pain, without possibly harming the young man. He knew he had to cast a silencing spell, but it still felt quite inhumane to quiet the boy down, when he was in so much pain. So quickly he picked the boy up and began making his way to the front door as fast as possible.

He knew that the wards around the manor would have alerted the residents by now, so they knew that Severus was not alone, they didn't know however that it was Harry Potter that accompanied him. It was risky going into a death eater infested house, carrying Harry Potter, so he hoped he could make it to the Dark Lord's quarters before any of them saw him.

Once he came to the front door, which opened by itself, he took the indirect route to his destination, hoping to avoid any of the Dark Lord's followers with this. It seemed that luck was on his side, that and the fact that most of his followers were trying to pinpoint the duo's last location, made sure that they were able to reach the Dark Lord's quarters without being detected.

Severus drew a deep breath and managed to knock on the door hard without letting go of his student. Waiting patiently, in spite that he would rather make haste, for him to be called in. Soon a voice called out to him, "Enter", and so he did, nerves on edge and wand still in his hand while carrying the legacy of his one true love, ready to protect him if necessary.

The door closed behind him heavily and he looked directly at the person in the centre of the room, who in turn looked straight back at him. For a moment he was afraid it was going to turn out into staring competition, but the Dark Lord soon composed himself and stood up from the large black leather armchair he had been seated in. He hadn't drawn his wand or even made a move to attack them, the only thing that had changed was that the Dark Lord now had this sinister smile gracing his snake-like face, it send fear into Snape's bones, further than any wand could have done.

The eerie feeling of the room did nothing to alleviate that feeling however. The fire that was slightly lit and the fact that very few other light sources were turned on gave the room a sinister dark feeling, whilst in daylight it would probably be a marvellous room with all the silvers and royal blues.

"My, my, Severus", he said, even though it was meant to sound like idle conversation, no one could have made that sound more threathening, "I believe you have some explaining to do." Severus made as much of a bow as he could muster with the boy still in his arms and walked towards the centre of the room, where the tea table was large enough to lay Harry down upon.

"Of course, milord", Severus said quickly, before checking Harry's pulse once more, before focussing his full attention towards, his Master, "I had hoped to have more time with the boy, to make him truly see Dumbledore's mistakes and make him more viable to your ideas, but we were ambushed by Dumbledore and his Order. The boy stood up against the old man, at which Dumbledore cast a spell meant to destroy your horcrux whilst it was still inside of the boy."

At this Voldemort started to look furious, he wasn't concerned for the boy, for goodness no, but he wanted his horcrux save. Snape quickly finished his explanation, "I don't think the spell worked my Lord, the way Dumbledore looked when the spell took effect made me think that he didn't want to physically hurt the boy, somehow the spell has failed, but I think you are the only one, who can assess the situation well enough."

Even though they say that flattery will get you nowhere, it certainly kept some of the Dark Lord's anger at bay, who quickly dispelled the silencing spell, that Snape had cast earlier, after which the screaming started again. Whilst Severus seemed somewhat taken aback by the screaming, it seemed to have none such an influence on his Lord.

Slowly the Dark Lord stepped up to the boy. He gracefully raised his hand towards the boy's head and touched it briefly, after which the screaming stopped and the boy seemed to go in a quiet slumbering state. The Dark Lord's hand went to hover above the boy's chest, only if one looked deeply into his eyes could one see the shock present there briefly before it disappeared again, just as quickly as it had appeared.

"I will require several potions, to repair the damage done to both my horcrux and its vessel. I will provide you with a list, but first you must take the boy into the next room and lay him down on the bed, after which I will have the list ready and require you to brew them immediately", as Severus walked away with Harry an laid him down in the adjoining room, Voldemort saw something in Snape's behaviour.

"You care for him, Severus", the Dark Lord stated as he handed the list of potions to Snape, together with a book which contained the recipes to some of the more archaic potions he needed, "you care for him a lot." Although Snape didn't want to admit any weakness to his Lord, it was now too late to hide any strange feelings he might have developed for the boy, "Yes, milord", Snape said, before attempting to leave the room, 'as I once cared for his mother.', Severus thought.

"You musn't, Severus", the Dark Lord said as Snape exited the room, "Caring is for the weak, it will make you vulnerable and can only come back to haunt you."


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: The characters and settings, including any sentences taken directly or partly from the books or movies, of Harry Potter are the property of J. K. Rowling, Scholastic Books, Bloomsbury Publishing, AOL Time Link and Warner Brothers. I do not make money from publishing my story.

* * *

In the midst of their confusion Snape apparated the young injured Harry away, to where they didn't know, but somehow Remus had a feeling that it wasn't Severus' fault he had been injured. It had been theirs and they had attacked the only one who had had Harry's best interests at heart. As soon as he realized that, he began to feel ashamed, but at the same time he was less worried about Harry.

"Albus", Remus directed his attention to their leader, "What exactly was our purpose here? I do not believe, after seeing this, that it was Severus who had bad intentions. Please explain, why your spell caused him so much harm." The rest of the Order stayed quiet, but too shared Remus' curiosity about the situation.

At least Albus Dumbledore had the decency to look ashamed, he hadn't wanted to harm the young man at all. He knew that Severus would do anything to protect Harry and that was what had scared him. He believed that Severus would even take him to Voldemort if it meant that Harry would live. That would have major consequences for the war, the Dark Lord could not know that a piece of his soul was inside of Harry or that Albus knew of his horcruxes.

"I truly do believe I owe you an explanation, but the is neither the time nor the place to do that", Dumbledore stated, "If you would all join me at headquarters in a few hours, please do alert the others to our meeting." This was how the rest of the Order was dismissed and Dumbledore was the only one who remained behind at Prince manor.

He did feel quite ashamed about destroying the wards around Severus' ancestral home and violating his privacy, maybe it was only a side effect from the recent battle, but nonetheless he felt the need to restore some of the wards and so he did.

Once he arrived at Grimmauldplace, the house was already full with interested and worried Order members, it was mainly Minerva who looked quite worried, while she tried to read anything of his face, but was incapable. He guided everyone to the meeting room and began his explanation.

"Thank you all for coming on such a short notice, earlier today some of you were present as we tried to prevent Severus from hiding Harry away, after he had taken him away from his relatives earlier this summer, after conveniently using my letter as a means of gaining Harry's trust." He had to admit, it had been quite smart of Severus to use the cover the letter provided, since the whole Order knew that he had sent that letter, while information as to whom would pick Harry up wasn't contained within the letter itself.

"It has come to my attention that Harry may very well be the only one to kill the Dark Lord, but that in doing so he had to suffer greatly. As it all started 16 years ago, when Voldemort attacked the Potters and tried to kill Harry. That night it wasn't only Harry who defeated him, no, Voldemort left a part of his soul behind inside of Harry, meaning that Voldemort cannot die, until the piece inside of Harry dies as well."

Shocked faces all around, showed how little they had known about that fateful night and Harry's role in this looming war. "I thought I had found a solution to this, I recently discovered an ancient magic tome, one of the spells was a spell to exorcise horcruxes while inside their vessels. I made a grievous mistake in assuming that it had been used on a human vessel before, which is why it had such a painful impact on young Harry."

Silence ruled the room and several people sighed in relief, their leader, did look out for Harry, but had made a mistake, a very human mistake, he believed that he had found the solution that could have saved the boy, but in his haste had incidentally hurt him. "I hope that you will forgive this old man his mistake and continue to look for Harry and Severus, especially since Harry is in need of immediate medical care.

They had all made mistakes, each and every one of them had. The Headmaster had forgiven them too and while they hadn't expected the great Albus Dumbledore to make mistakes, he was still human and they knew they had to forgive him too.

"I must ask you to keep any and all information shared here a strict secret, if any of it made its way to Voldemort, it would have dire consequences, I cannot all forsee", Albus said before concluding the meeting. Several Order members went home or back to work immediately, while Remus stayed behind for a bit, helping Molly Weasley clean up.

It had been a lot of information to take in for most members, but for people like Remus, who cared so much for Harry it was almost shattering his heart.

* * *

It had been a few hours after Severus had arrived at Malfoy manor, he had yet to see anyone besides Harry or the Dark Lord, which was quite logical if you considered that the Dark Lord had him brewing potions almost as soon as he had arrived. By now the first potions, which included a pain potion were ready and Severus was about to bring them to his Master, glancing at the remaining potions one last time before he exited the brewing room.

His luck was about to ran out, he crossed into the main hall, ready to go upstairs to the Dark Lord's quarters as he saw Antonin Dolochov make his way towards him and he didn't look happy. As soon as Dolochov spotted him too, his began to look even more angry, as he suddenly whipped out his wand aiming it straight at Snape's heart.

Severus too had taken his wand, but kept it in a defensive position not wanting this to end in a bloody battle. While he knew that he was a fairly good dueller, Dolochov was a force to be reckoned with. "You dare to show your traitorous face here, Snape?!", Dolochov sneered as he moved closer towards Severus. Slowly Snape backed away a little and raised his wand towards Dolochov.

"I only have our Master's best interest at heart, Dolochov", Snape said confidently, "Better the boy be alive but harmless, than dead and the Dark Lord agrees, I have served him well once more, unlike you who disobeyed his orders.". Severus prepared to walk past Dolochov, but as soon as he tried Dolochov grabbed him by his throat and shoved him into one of the walls, now Dolochov's wand was aimed at his throat.

On the outside Severus managed to appear calm and collected, but on the inside he was resisting every urge to curse Dolochov into the middle of next week. Dolochov too looked like he was having a hard time controlling himself and for Severus that was not a good thing.

"Do not tempt me, Snape! You are one of Dumbledore's lapdogs and I will make sure the Dark Lord sees that! You are nothing but a coward!", Dolochov sneered, ready to throw a curse at Snape, he was stopped by a hand on his shoulder. Turning around in a split-second, blond hair came into view and stopped him from cursing the person who had dared stop him.

"Nice to see you again, Severus, Dolochov", Lucius said, he switched his attention to Snape, "I have come to tell you, that the Dark Lord has asked for you." That statement alone was enough for Dolochov to release his prey and reluctantly taking a step back. Before he strode off he addressed Severus one more time, "When you lose your value, I will be the first to curse you straight to hell!"

Severus then tidied himself and was ready to stride off to, without even addressing Lucius. "I wonder what great deed you have done for our Lord", Lucius said, sounding like he was musing to himself, but it was clearly meant for Snape, "He has been in a particularly good mood." Without addressing his friend further both went their own ways.

* * *

I know some of you expected the whole Order to be mad at Dumbledore, but while I am not a fan of him, I do think that everyone should be allowed to make mistakes. I don't think that Dumbledore would ever purposely hurt Harry, while half the Order was present.

I would like to thank all of you, for reviewing, for following and favoriting this story! It gives me great incentive to write and it tells me that I am not only satisfying myself, but many other Harry Potter lovers too.


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: The characters and settings, including any sentences taken directly or partly from the books or movies, of Harry Potter are the property of J. K. Rowling, Scholastic Books, Bloomsbury Publishing, AOL Time Link and Warner Brothers. I do not make money from publishing my story.

* * *

After a minute Severus had arrived at his Lord's chambers, knocked politely before entering and after that went straight to the adjoining bedroom, where the Dark Lord was already waiting for him, while he was carefully watching the young man who currently laid in the bed.

Harry had been unconscious ever since he had been brought the first batch of pain relieving potions, after which he had stopped screaming and had fallen unconscious due to the stress and the exhaustion. Luckily the screaming had stopped and Severus had been able to treat the more superficial wounds the boy had endured.

In the meantime the Dark Lord, had him brewing complex soul mending potions, most of which stemmed from the dark ages and had to be translated before brewing them. The Dark Lord had also used some rituals and spells, to assess the situation the boy and the horcrux were in, but they are rare pieces of magic and not much is known about them. In this case there where even less certainties as this wasn't a normal horcrux, it hadn't even been successfully destroyed.

"My Lord, I have finished the first batch of the soul-mending potions, you requested", Severus told the Dark Lord ,who motioned for Severus to sit down in the only other chair in the room, while he himself sat down the chair farthest away from the bed.

"You were right to bring the boy to me, Severus", Voldemort said, with as little arrogance as he could muster, "I believe I have halted the progress of the exorcism and that the mending process can be started any moment now." Severus could barely hold in his sigh of relieve, but managed to hide it skilfully.

"However it is too early to say, whether either the horcrux, the boy or perhaps even both have sustained any lasting damage. You have done a good job of fixing the boy physically though, I hope you will be able to do the same for his mental health." Even though, the dark Lord was hardly interested in the boy's health himself, he was interested to keep Severus as his subject, the man was incredibly intelligent and practical, always making sure he got what he needed and the Dark Lord admired that in a man.

"Now you can leave", it was not a question and thus Severus placed the finished potions on the bedside table, before his Lord addressed him one more time, "You will bring me the second batch of potions tomorrow", that wasn't a question either and Severus would have to make haste to meet that deadline.

Now alone in the room, more or less, if you didn't count the unconscious boy in the bed, the Dark Lord sat on the bed next to said boy and grabbed one of the potions. He hoped the boy wouldn't wake up for a while, administering these potions would be much easier while the boy was unconscious. He tilted Potter's head back and poured the potions into the open mouth, stroking the throat to get the swallow reflex working.  
As the potion made its way down the boy's throat, he felt the magic beginning to work. Potter groaned a bit, as if in pain, but nothing too serious. Then again he wasn't too concerned with his health either. Voldemort knew that it would take a few more doses to repair the damage done to both Potter's and his own soul, but the boy could awaken any moment now, since the pain wouldn't keep him unconscious anymore.

His attention went back to the boy currently lying in his guest chamber. He hated what the boy represented, his downfall and a beacon of light. He admitted that he was intrigued by the boy's power, the magic crackled slightly under his skin, like it did with his own. The boy wasn't extremely bright, nor was he ambitious, but Voldemort knew that the boy could be extraordinary, as all magic's favourites were.

The Dark Lord's musings were forcefully disturbed when someone knocked on the doors to his chambers and since he expected no one, he stood up quickly. Opening the heavy doors he came to face Lucius Malfoy.

"My Lord", Lucius said, he was somewhat out of character, trying very hard to catch his breath, while informing his Lord of the last changes, "Dumbledore's group didn't believe the false trail we set up, they have somehow found that he have Potter hostage. It will not be long before they find out that we have set up our headquarters _here _and they _will _come for Potter then_."_

The Dark Lord couldn't tell whether Lucius was concerned about his house, his family or about the mission, but the concern was clearly visible on his face. His Lord's face was completely blank and Lucius was unable to tell what the man was thinking. "Give a message to Pius, he must haste things at the ministry. I want the Aurors under our control within the week. Have Rookwood and Rudolphus reinforce the wards. I will add to them myself later."

While the Dark Lord hadn't dismissed him officially he felt like those were orders he needed to fulfil right now and he was right. His Lord turned around and almost closed the door in his face. Since his return from Azkaban he had been treated as a messenger, still allowed to have most of the information, but hardly trusted enough to act on it. He hoped that his son wouldn't suffer because of it, but Draco had already been given an impossible task.

As he made his way towards the entrance hall, he had one of the house elves bring his cloak, casting an illusion spell upon himself, so he would not be noticed, he arrived at the edge of the wards and apparated away.

Meanwhile, the Dark Lord had been thinking up plans to avoid a confrontation with Dumbledore's Order. He needed to safeguard his horcruxes first and any confrontation with Dumbledore would mean he had less time to do that.

The fact that Dumbledore knew of the Potter boy's status as his horcrux meant that Dumbledore probably knew about the existence of the rest of the horcruxes. Although he believed in his own methods to hide them, he also believed that Dumbledore would leave no stone unturned to find those soulpieces. He would be busy all night, until next morning when Severus came with the next batch of potions to give to Potter. 

* * *

I'm sorry for the delay, university thought it would be fun to saddle me up with a huge assignment. While I'd rather write for this story, the assignment makes up 50% of my grade for this course. But I'm halfway there so expect the next chapter to be up in about two weeks.


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